This
F-117 really lives twice! The first time I just glued the few pieces together
and applied the decals - that's long ago. But then in summer 2001 I decided to
rebuild this model simultaneously to a F-16 I was building at that time. So I
carefully dismantled the parts and began constructing this model the second
time.
There
wasn't much to do in the cockpit area, I just painted it black. As you can
hardly see the interior once the fuselage halves are glued together the
indication of a HUD was the only detail I added to the cockpit. This time I did
not insert the pilot figure.
The
trailing edge of the platypus-exhausts were carved with the knife to divide them
into tiles. The exhausts were painted grey (slightly weathered) with a metallic
edge. The cockpit and the green-yellow tinted clear part were glued on the upper
fuselage half.
After
that construction went on even quicker. The fuselage was completed by joining
the wings and the stabilizers. This time I wanted the weapons bay in closed
position. As the kits doors are supposed to be open I had to cut them off their
suspensions. Unfortunately in closed position they are slightly too long to fit
properly. So I had to cut them, following the zigzag-stealth-pattern of the
edge.
Then
it was time for painting. I had decided to try a flat black paint that I
normally use for painting tyres. I had chosen it because it is really, really
flat - in my opinion most F-117 models appear too shiny, too gloss. The grills
of the several air in- and outlets were painted semi-gloss.
The
small decal sheet offered two versions, the 37th TFW during Desert Storm and the
49th FW (all F-117 are 49th since 1992). The ones for the 37th had been used the
first time I build the model, so this time I simply used the other ones. They
look almost identical anyway.